Body designers for automotive companies often desire to utilize in cars tempered glass windows which have holes very close to an edge of the glass sheet. These holes are utilized for mounting the glass sheet to window regulators or other devices for moving the glass sheet in and out of a particular location in the automotive vehicle. Glass manufacturers have responded to such requests by establishing certain guidelines for a minimum tolerable distance between the edge of a glass sheet and the edge of an opening therethrough which can be manufactured using current level technology. If the edge of the opening in the glass sheet is located closer to the edge of the glass sheet than set forth by the guidelines, excessive glass breakage usually occurs during the tempering operation because of the high stress level set up in the small area of glass located between the edge of the glass and the edge of the opening closest to the edge of the glass.
It is a principal object of this invention to provide a method which permits openings to be formed through a glass sheet closely adjacent the edge of the glass sheet. It is a further object of this invention to provide a method which reduces the glass breakage associated with tempering glass sheets having openings therethrough closely adjacent an edge of the glass sheet.
The following U.S. patents were cited in a novelty search conducted in the U.S. Patent Office on this subject matter: U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,289,993; 1,645,355; 1,722,010; 1,795,308; 3,114,619; 3,369,883; 3,453,097 and 3,543,979, Japanese Pat. No. 47-44009 was also cited.